Metal News for April 19, 2006

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15 news articles posted on this day.

Metal Asylum recently conducted an interview with BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Alysum: Is the direction of the new album as orchestrated and layered with vocal harmonies as "Night at the Opera" or does it have more in common with "Imaginations from the Other Side" or even "Somewhere Far Beyond"?

Hansi: "Well, the working title of the album is 'Twist of the Mist'. We have about five weeks of mixing coming up so during that time is when we will decide on the album's title. Would I confuse you if I said we are consequently going in the direction of 'Opera' but with less orchestration? [Laughs] You can definitely hear the roots of the band on it, especially if you have the single for 'Fly' and on the song 'Skalds and Shadows', but there is a new direction as well. I think we have included the qualities of every album so far. Of course, our target lies in the future, so it's not exactly to be compared with any of the albums we have done before. All the 12 songs differ drastically and go in different directions. There is a traditional section, a more modern section and a more orchestrated section. I am very convinced that this was the right step to do because every song contains great melodies. The album has a focus on melodies but not so as many layers like we did with 'A Night at the Opera'. There are tons of guitar melodies and we tried to focus on the lead vocals more this time than on 'Opera' and we removed a lot of those backing vocal layers. 'Opera' was a very busy album, this time the attitude is still the same but based on a very strong melody line either played by Andre's guitar leads or my vocals. I think you can feel that in 'Fly' already and that is a great example of the new album."

Metal Asylum: It has been understood that your original drummer Thomen left the band and started SAVAGE CIRCUS because he was more interested in making music in the style of earlier BLIND GUARDIAN. Is that because BLIND GUARDIAN is phasing out that part of the band's history in the future?

Hansi: "Well, he really liked that stuff, as we all do, but it was more of both a mixture of artist and business matters. We all had a discussion and decided it was the best thing to do for everyone. It depends how you look at it addressing your question. If you look at 'A Night at the Opera' and find that a complete change for you then we have in a sense moved away from that part of the band's past but without really thinking about it. I think 'A Night at the Opera' is a consequence and development of what we have done before but that does not mean we have denied our roots or do not want to do that music anymore, it's just not the time for that right now. That was the '80s and early '90s and we need to come up with something new and develop. We are progressive band and therefore it is important for us to have something different between all the albums. There was no discussion neither with or without Thomen whether we were going to do another 'Imaginations from the Other Side' or 'Somewhere Far Beyond'. As I said, it's nothing we would deny, and, of course, you can still feel those Celtic elements in the single 'Fly' or 'Skalds and Shadows'. We just write the songs we are comfortable with."

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robert Flynn has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"What's up fuckers! How the hell's it goin'? The mighty MACHINE HEAD are doing fucking splendid these days. Been hanging out at home for a while now. After touring so long, it's pretty nice. Connecting with friends, drinking some beers (Pete's Wicked Ales are the shit!), hitting the weights, enjoying / complaining about the heaviest rain the Bay Area has seen in the last 100 years, getting out to a bunch of shows, it's been sweet.

"Got out to see CHILDREN OF BODOM and GOD FORBID Saturday and then went to our boys CHIMAIRA the next night. GOD FORBID killed it, as usual. They are such a good fucking band, but the big surprise for me was BODOM. Goddamn, those motherfuckers can play!!! The keyboard player was fucking ridiculous!!! And even though the guitar player [Alexi Laiho] flips his hair WAY too much, that guy can SHRED... holy shit! It's good shred too — tasty, not the fucking WHACK-ASS arpeggio overkill that so many of these metal-come-latelys are doing to death. I was a little jealous of him actually — he's one of those guys born with 'shredder fingers' (long, skinny fingers perfect for shredding). Me, on the other hand (no pun intended), I got blessed with friggin' sausage fingers, but we make the best with what we got, right? I got the wrist, man, the WRIST!!!

"CHIMAIRA were, quite frankly, AWESOME. First time seeing 'em with [returning drummer] Andols [Herrick] in a few years and he was fuckin' RAD. I always thought [Kevin] Talley was a GREAT drummer, but Andols is just 'them.' Adam [Duce, MACHINE HEAD bassist] and I got up and jammed 'Pure Hatred' with 'em, and we had a fuckin' BLAST.

"Metal is definitely on a huge upswing right now. It's pretty darn cool, but one thing I noticed at both shows, and even the IN FLAMES show a month or so back, is an alarming amount of... I don't know what to call 'em... 'scenesters' coming out. People who don't know jack shit about these bands, don't know the words, don't know the songs, don't know shit, they're just there to 'be seen' and look cool hanging out by the bar in their brand new, youth small reissue RATT t-shirt. In quite a hilarious example, IN FLAMES brought some 'fan' up on stage to sing a song off of 'Clayman' (!), and the dumb-ass didn't know ONE FUCKING WORD to the song!! What up with that?!?! Go back to your TAKING BACK SUNDAY shows, scenesters.

Neurotic Records has released the following statement regarding their latest signing, New Zealand based brutal death metallers ULCERATE:

With great delight NEUROTIC RECORDS unveils the latest addition to its ever growing artist roster, being New Zealand based ULCERATE. This young and innovative extreme metal act deliver a very heavy form of technical death metal, while at the same time incorporating several elements from all kinds of different styles and genres of metal. ULCERATE's debut album, tentatively titled "Of Fracture And Failure," which has been recorded and is currently in mixing stages, will positively surprise all sorts of fans of extreme metal.

Ruud Lemmen of NEUROTIC RECORDS commented: "ULCERATE is one of those, so called, hidden gems we have been following from their first demo back in 2003 and on. This band continuously progressed over the past few years and they never ceased to amaze us. As a collective unit this band embodies the talent to create highly skilled, technical yet very structured songs, while keeping a rather fresh form of aggressiveness within their music. We are very confident that their debut album will be received very well and will appeal to many." More...

Norfolk, Virginia's Lofat is a young and determined thrash metal band that is now hooked up with Brickhouse Records. They have certainly yielded quite a bit of interest on the local Virginia music scene over the last year and are quickly making their name known in the underground metal scene through sheer force of will and yes, Myspace. Whether bringing the thrash ala Suicidal Tendencies or going for the monster grind Pantera-style, this band clearly shoots for the stars when it comes to how they represent metal's great legacy as it moves forward. I went to the guy who does Lofat's screaming, talented lead singer, Mishun, to see what the skinny is.More...

As previously reported, Korn and The Deftones are heading up the ressurected Family Values Tour, started and headlined by Korn eight years ago. This year's tour is said to have a second stage for the first time, with acts yet to be announced. The main stage will be rounded out by Stone Sour, Flyleaf and Dir En Grey, who Davis described as "this crazy Japanese band that are just out of their minds." Lawn tickets will be $9.99 at each stop.

MTV.com has some more detail and commentary by Jonathan Davis and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno:

"The first [Family Values] with us on it was the best, and we just decided, let's do this again," Korn singer Jonathan Davis said of 1998's outing with Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Rammstein and Orgy. "We're gonna break out the old Family Values stuff we got in storage and really put on a cool show."

"No band can go down to $9.99 and do the production and that kind of stuff that we're doing, but the deal we did [becoming equal partners with EMI and promoters Live Nation] allows us to be able to do that, which is really cool," Davis said. "I don't want to slap bands for making their ticket prices so high, 'cause I understand production and that stuff costs a lot. ... But Madonna's are like 300 bucks a ticket. I can't even believe that. Ten bucks for a show is ridiculous, and I think kids that aren't Korn fans will wanna go just to check out other bands or just go to have a good time."

Having a good time will also be a priority for Korn, who will balance their intense sets with a lot of backstage hanging out.

"We haven't toured with [the Deftones] since '97 or '96, and we're really excited," Davis said. "We love those guys. We started out together. Literally it was us and them, and back in the day we used to drive to Sacramento [California] and play at their home clubs. And they would drive to Huntington Beach and play the clubs we'd play, so we've been friends for a long, long time, and it's cool to be back together again and sharing the same stage."

Tour dates for the 30-city Family Values Tour have not been announced yet, but organizers have released a list of cities: More...

"Dear fans,after the sold out show in Santiago de Chile ATROCITY and LEAVES' EYES went to Buenes Aires / Argentina. The show was sold out, too, and just amazing! Thank you Argentina and Chile!!! 15.09., LEAVES` EYES and ATROCITY had a great signing session at BLACKMORE ROCK BAR in Sao Paulo! We also did some nice interviews: Liv and Alex were interviewed by FM Rock and Pop (Argentinia).

Check out Zona Metal. They recently posted the first photos of the ATROCITY and LEAVES' EYES shows in South America.

Now we arrived in Brazil, looking forward to the shows in Curitiba, Sao Paulo and Recife. Moreover, we will be the guests of the Brazilian Stay Heavy TV! We are having a great time meeting all of our fans in South America!

See you at the shows, LEAVES' EYES & ATROCITY"

Finally, fans impatiently waiting for the release of "Legend Land" have a chance to listen to all the songs of the new EP two weeks before official release at the release party presented by LEAVES' EYES, sounds2move.de and Napalm Records. In cooperation with Kornhaus Hünfeld there will be the exclusive release party on May 20th where you can hear all the EP's songs for the first time. Moreover, drummer MORITZ NEUNER will be the speacial guest DJ, and will be available for a face-to-face talk and for signing autographs. There will also be some goodies to be won and the band's official merchandise also will be available.

Engineer Records has announced the signing of Germany's The Blackout Argument (ex-Paint The Town Red, Flyswatter, For Heaven's Sake) to their expanding roster. They are preparing the band's "Munich Angst" EP for a summer release.

Chris of The Blackout Argument has this to say direct from the band's mouth:

"Big news from Munich Angst City! We are more than happy to let you know that we have found a dedicated and strong ally to push the band to the next level. The Blackout Argument has signed to Engineer Records, who are going to release our 5-song debut EP entitled "Munich Angst" this summer 2006. Engineer Records share our professional yet independent D.I.Y work ethics and we are proud to be a part of their roster. The UK/US-based label has a worldwide reputation for releasing quality hardcore and metal underground records of both, well known and unheard of bands, equally.

The artwork for the Munich Angst EP was created by Angry Blue (Lamb of God, Throwdown, Poison the Well, etc.) and Independent Intensio (Ephen Rian, Side One Dummy, 11pm, etc.). The mixing and mastering was done by Philip Seidl (Flyswatter, Cashless, For Heavens Sake, etc.).

West Virginia thrashers Byzantine recently entered the studio to record a cover song for an upcoming upcoming Eyehategod tribute album. Lead guitarist Tony Rohrbough offers this update:

"Hi everyone. Just a quick update here to let everyone know what’s up. While most of you were chowing down on some Easter dinner last Sunday, we were in the studio. We went back to Aaron Fisher’s 101 Productions Studio, where we recorded our previous albums and recorded a cover song for an upcoming Eyehategod tribute album. We recorded 'Shoplift' from their Take as Needed for Pain album. I really like the way it turned out. It sounds absolutely nothing like us but it also does in some ways. Sludgy-as-all-hell-stoner-doom. You’ll just have to hear it. We don’t have a release date on the album at this time but whenever it comes out, we’ll be selling copies at our shows. Until then, you’ll just have to bug one of us to let you hear it."

Byzantine is currently biding time playing headlining shows to support the band's 2005 release, '...And They Shall Take Up Serpents' before appearing at the 8th Annual New England Metal and Hardcore Festival on Sunday, April 30. Then, the band will be support for Kittie on select shows through mid-May.

Byzantine has also added a live video of "Hatfield," from the band's Prosthetic debut 'The Fundamental Component,' featuring a guest appearance by Lamb of God's Randy Blythe on the Byzantine MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/byzantine).

KORN and DEFTONES will be teaming up for the resurrected Family Values tour late summer/early fall, according to official MySpace bulletins posted by both bands earlier today.

The Family Values Tour was created by KORN in 1998 with the intention of making it an annual trek. KORN headlined the first tour, then passed the headlining spot to LIMP BIZKIT in 1999. The tour took the year off in 2000 due to heavy competition.

Guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer recently hinted that the tour may return when he spoke to Launch Radio Networks.

"We're trying to put together something similar to, like, a Family Values kind of a thing," he said. "We don't know if we're gonna call it that or not, but we wanna put together something sort of a festival feel, where there's four bands on the main stage and then there's four or five bands on a side stage. We want to make our own Kornfest type of thing."

ARMORED SAINT have announced a number of European festival and headline appearances set for June and July. Included are the band's first dates in the U.K. since 1991 and their first-ever appearances in Ireland and Scotland. In addition, ARMORED SAINT will be playing select dates in California, including teaming up with DEATH ANGEL and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM for a special show at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood on Friday, July 7. Tickets for the House of Blues show are priced at $20 and go on sale April 20.

ARMORED SAINT last performed live on July 30, 2005 at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona as the opening act for the SCORPIONS. It is not presently clear if plans exist for the group to begin work on a new studio album. The group's last CD, "Revelation", came out in 2000 on the Metal Blade label.

The former rock band tour manager who ignited pyrotechnics that started a deadly nightclub fire in 2003 has written personalized letters of apology to relatives of all 100 people who were killed.

The handwritten letters from Daniel Biechele, who pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter, have been given to a judge and will be delivered to the family members sometime after his sentencing next month.

"Mr. Biechele feels genuine sorrow at what happened in this case, and he's been wanting to say something to the victims for a long time," Biechele's lawyer, Tom Briody, said Monday.

Biechele, former tour manager for the rock band GREAT WHITE, set off the pyrotechnics that triggered the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick. Sparks from the pyrotechnics ignited flammable sound-absorption foam on the club's walls and ceiling.

In return for Biechele's plea, prosecutors agreed to a maximum term of 10 years in prison. He could have faced up to 30 years on each count. Sentencing is set for May 8.

Briody said it was Biechele's decision to write the letters. He would not say if he would ask a judge to weigh them as a factor for a lighter sentence.

Diane Mattera, whose 29-year-old daughter, Tammy, died in the fire, said the apology letter won't ease her grief.

"He is a direct link to the cause of the accident that took 100 lives and maimed over 200 other people. How is a letter going to change that?" Mattera said. "I know he did not set out that evening to do any kind of damage whatsoever, but what good is a letter of apology?"

A spokesman for the attorney general's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

Charges are still pending against the owners of the nightclub who each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Good news for fans of the California hardcore band What Lies Within: Massachusetts based record label and recording studio Hold True Recordings will be releasing the band's final album. The long awaited (and overdue) "Complete Discography" finally made it out to the plant yesterday, and is expected to be released officially in mid May. The CD will feature every recorded song the band had in their roster including a long lost, but restored version of what many thought to be their greatest song: "The Walls You Build." For more information and MP3s, visit Hold True Recordings on the web.